Refrigerator



' July 24, 1923.

C. A. KETTERER REFRIGERATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet l Qriginal Filed Aug. 9, 1920' July 24;, 1923. v 11,%2,%8

. C. A. KETTERER REFRIGERATOR Original Filed Afig. 9, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mam Patented July 124, i923.

entree srares 4 ,iaeaaee earner sense. 1

CHARLES KETTERER, OF EAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS. I

REFRIGERATOR Application filed August 9, 1920, Serial No. 402,175. Renewedlebruary 1, 1923.

T0 allwlzomit may concern: 7

Be it known that 1, CHARLES A. IQET TERER, a citizen of the United States, and

resident of East St. Louis. in the county of St. Clair and State of Illinois, have .inventedcertain newand useful Improvements in Refrigerators, of which the following is a specification containing full, clear, and exact description, references being had to the accompanying drawings, formin'g/Ia part thereof.

y invention relates to improvements in refrigerators and has for its object a re frigerator wherein the display or storage chamber of a'refrigerator is chilled and at the same time provided with a suff cientamount of moisture to keep articles contained therein in a salable condition.

A further object is to construct a refrigerator in which the display or storage cham-.

ber of a refrigerator can'besupplied. with either dry cold air or with a pre-determined amount of moisture. -'This moisture being desirable. whenever articles containing juices are stored therein, as the dry cold air will absorb the juices from-"the article if there is nomoisture-preseiit in the air and cause; shrmkage and considerable loss n wei ht,

while if too-much moisture'is containe in the air the articles stored within the chember absorb this moisture and become soft and flabby and unfit for sale..

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectionalview of a refrigerator containing the apparatus made use of in my method.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of one of the central air circulatin pipes.

Fig. 3 is an enlarge sectional view showing blocks or plugs made use of to assist in regulating the amount of moisture supplied to the air.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the lid used on the ice receptacle showing the dampers -made use of for regulating the flow of-air -1 side air tubes.

Fig. 0 1s a cross sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1, and showing the arrangement of the refrigerator coil in the liquid container.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the blocks orplugs made use of.

' In the construction of my device I make use of the refrigerator 7, which is provided with a storage or display chamber 8 and a refrigerating chamber 9. These chambers are separated from each other by means of the splash apron 10, which ,is composed of two horizontal members with spaced apart'vertical slats extending across, and secured on each side of the horizontal members', and so arranged that the slat on one side will close the space beneath two adjacent slats on theother. This permits a free circulation of air through the splash apron, but at the same time prevents any liquid from splashing therethrough, and into the display chamber, which is located'along the bottom of the refrigerator, the reticulated Wall-11 and the deflector 12; the splash apron, reticulated wall and deflector serving a two-fold purpose, thefirst being to prevent articles in the storage ordisplay chamber from fallin into the refrigerating chamber, and secon the splash apron and reticulated Wall 11 allowing the entrance of cold air into the dis lay chamber while the deflector 12 causes t e warm air to rise upwardly and enter the refrigerating chamber through the passage 13 formed between irons 16, secured .to these angle. irons is a liquid container '17. This liquid container sides 20 are vertical. These sloping sides are secured to the bottom 19. Secured to the bottom and extending upwardly therethrough to a plane evenwiththe top edge of the liquid container are large air pipes 20.- Extending thru these air pipes at a distance from the top edge thereof is a rod or rivet 21, and on this rod or rivet rest pipes 22 and 23. These pipes are arranged concentric with the pipe 20 and are held in this position by means of the corrugated tubes or pipes 24 and 25, the pipe 22 having its upper edge terminating at a short distance above the edge of the pipe 20, and the pipe 23 terminating at a short distance above the upper edge of the pipe 22. Within the pipe 22 and at a short distance below has two of its sides 18 sloping, while the v rivets or wires crossing each other at right 8U) ers are-provided'with a series of' graduated openings air entering. the "ice receptacle 32"-o-rangles extending diametrically across the ipe and on this X rests a washer or reti'culated plate 27 the purpose ofwhich is to prevent foreign substances from entering the pipe 22 and lodging on the rod or rivet 2l' and causing foul air in the pipe. Secured through the sloping bottom 18 are the pipes 28 which have their upper ends terminating on a plane with the upperedge the liquid container. These pipes are provided with a bar or rivet 29 on. which rest the pipes -1 tubes 30 and 31, the pipes 30 terminating at a. short distance above the upper edge of the pipes 28, while the pipes 31 extend upwardlythrough the ice con tainer '32 and contact with-the undeiside of the cover or lid 33 -of the ice container.

This cover'or lid is provided with a pinrality of openings 34, these openings terminating in' downwardly projecting lips 35. The' ho'les are so arranged as to be ver tically opposite the pipes 23 and 31 and the.

lips 35 of the openings 34of the outside pair of openings are designed. to enter the tubes or pipes 31. are placed dampers 3.6. These dampers are pivotally mounted on the lid'ata point indicated by the numeral 37and are provided with an upeturned portion 38 to' per mit themoving 0f the same. These damp- 39 'so --thatfl;the amount of h pipes 31 :can be regulated, or

closed ofientirely. The ice receptacle 321 is composed of sheet metal walls 40, which are secured to. the outside of the angle ceptacle.

- tacles, with the exception of the four cor' ners where it is closed by the angle irons."

irons 16, while the liquid. receptacle- 17 is secured to the inner faces. The lower edge of the ice-receptacle terminates on a line with the upper edge of the liquid re- This leaves a passageway- 41. extendingcompletely-around the two recep- Secured to the angle irons and .at a .short so as to prevent its freezing. This liquid distance above the lower edge of the ice receptacle are angle irons 42,.thes angle irons acting as a support for a. sheet of reticulated material 43 which acts asa bottom for the ice receptacle. l/Vithin the liquid container 17 is secureda coil,44, and through this coil a refrigerant such as ammonia, or the like, is. designed to bepassed. The refrigerating coil 44 is submerged in a liquid which has been chemically. treated completely fills the chamber 17 and in order to supply a. continuous amount of fresh non freezing liquid to the container 17 a qua-ntity of crushed ice is-placed on the reticulated bottom '43. Mixed with this ice is a chemical such as salt, which, when mixed with the melted ice, will form a non-freezing solu-' tion orliquid. This liquid constantly dripblocks or plugs 45.

Over theopenings34gc'ertain portions ,of this opening; may be ping into thecontainer 17 will cause ,it to e overflow and run over the sides of the container, and also enter the pipes20 and 28.. This overflow will prevent frost from accumulating on the container or in the pipes, and the result will be a cold air with- I her and the walls of the'liquid container i and prevent the overflow. of non freezing liquid at that point. The method of inser-v tion of these plugs is clearly illu'strated in Fig. 3. These plugs are formed of various lengths so that the entire opening =41 may be closed 'iffound desirable, or only is as follows: The first step is to closed. The operation of my refrigerator fill the liquid container" 17 to the top with anon-freezing liquid,

which is preferably water treated with a chemical such as salt or the like, so as torenderit non-freezing, the ice container 32 is then filled with cracked ice with which is mixed some kind of chemical'as is mixed with the water, the refrigerant is thenturn ed on so that it may circulate through the coil 44 and thedampers 36 are' r'egl'ilated so' as to allow the passage of air'through the ice in the icecontainer and through the tubes 31. As the ice i n the ice container melts it dissolves a certain portion of the ysalt mixed therewith and the result-is anonfreezing solution, which drops through the reticulated bottom 43. of the. ice container and into the liquid container 17, Which'it will overflow as well as the pipes 20. and 28. In addition to'this a certain portion" of the liquid dripping from the ice container will enter the pipes 22', 23 and 30. This will cut .oil' frost which hasgathered on the'inside of the pipes while .the overflow of the container 17 -Will cut off the frost from the sides of the container. When it is desired to sup-,-

' ply only-asmall amount of moisture ,to the refrigerator, the dampers over the -pipes3l are closed and the only air admitted will be through the ice chamber. This air must pass through the ice chamber beforepassing through the tubes 20 and 28 and consequent-- ly will absorb a slight amount of' 'm'oisture.

If it is desired to feed only dry air-the .dampers 36 over the pipes 31 are opened and the dampers admitting air to the ice chamber closed. This will allowa direct circulation through the tubes 28 and 31 while practically no circulation will take' place through the tubes 20, 22, 23 and 30. By opening the valves over the ice chamber in addition to the valves over the tubes 31 a mixture of moist and dry air is obtained, and in order to obtain more moisture in the refrigerator theblocks or plugs 45 are made use of, closing up a portion or all of the opening 41. Then, when this opening is entirely closed, the only outlet for the overflow of'the'liquid container 17 is through the pipes 20 and 28 and the frost will be permitted to form on the outside of the container l7, and when this frost has reached a certain thickness no more frost will form, and

the balance of the moisture in the air will the flow or circulation of air, the cold air entering at the bottom of the display .or storage chamber and leaving it at the top through the passage 13. y In the event that all of the dampers 36 are closed-no circulation will take place through the pipes in the ice and liquid chambers, and the only chilling done will be by the contacting of the air with the outer surfaces of thesechambers Thus it is also possible to regulate the amount of cold air delivered to the storage chamber,'as well as the moisture, since the air when contacting only with the outside of these containers will not chill as readily, nor as thoroughly, as when permitted to pass through the tubes, and consequently the display or storage chamber will not become as cold as when the dampers 36 are open, as then a more rapid circulation of air takes place.

After serving its purpose in removing the frost the overflow from the liquid container 17 drips into the pan 14 and then passes through the pipe 15 either into a sewer or into some suitable receptacle.

lower degree of temperature within the storage or display chamber than by the use of ice only.v V

Having fully described my invention what I claim is:

1. A refrigerator comprising a storage I chamber, a refrigerator chamber communicating therewith,-a drip pan located in said refrigerating chamber, a liquid container supported in said refrigerating chamber above said drip pan, an ice container supported above said liquid container and spaced apart therefrom, a perforated lid for said ice container, dampers having graduated openings pivotallysecured to said lid for regulatin the size of perforation, and plugs for c osing predetermined portions of-the space-between the liquid container and ice chamber.

2. -A- refrigerator comprising a storage chamber, a refrigerating chamber in communication therewith, a drip pan located in said ice chamber a liquid container supported in said re rigerating chamber above said drip pan, an ice container having a reticulated bottom supported above said container and spaced apart therefrom, air

circulating pipes located in the liquid container, some of .which terminate below the ice chamber and some extending therethrough, a perforated lid for the ice chamice chamber, and .plugs for closing prede- I termined portions of the space between the liquid container and ice chamber,

In testimony'whereof, I have signed my name to this specification. 1

CHARLES A.'KETTERER. 

